Printing press for dry-offset printing



United States Patent [72] Inventor Jay Benjamin Lieberman 1,818,862 8/1931 Smith 101/252 West New York, N-J. 1,949,132 2/1934 Parker. 101/4l5.1 (7 Stony Run. New Rochelle, N.Y. 103041 2,031,602 2/1936 Higgins... 101/394 [2]] Appl. No. 641,923 2,034,584 3/1936 Lamb... 101/269 [22] Filed May 29, 1967 2,043,543 6/1936 J0nes.. 101/269 [45] Patented Oct. 6,1970 2,147,653 2/1939 King 101/252 [32] Priority 2,480,436 8/1949 Benavides 101/269 2,547,472 4/1951 Jetter .1 101/269 3,126,825 3/1964 Tofano 101/415.1 [54] PRINTING PRESS FOR DRY-OFFSET PRINTING 3,255,696 6/1966 Lieberman 101/413 4Cla1ms, 17 Drawing Figs. 3,279,368 10/1966 Wilson 101/269 3,283,711 11/1966 Lew 1 101/269 [52] US. Cl 101/269, 3 3/1968 Goodrich iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii 10106 9 101/286 01/252 1814 806 71931 1 101252 51 lm. Cl B4lf3/04 Home 50 Field ofSearch 101/269, FOREIGN PATENTS 250,392394,415.1,407, 408,215,217,421, 106,102 5/1917 Great Britain 101/252 282/22; 251.252.270-272, 286 874,468 1942 France.. 101/250 [56] References Cited Primary iraminer-10bert ElllPilzdfrfg 1 UNITED STATES PATENTS {Issrslam xammerugene 1c 0 t 498,530 5/1893 Brainero eta] 101/269 1,160,046 11/1915 Connell 101/269 ABSTRACT: A press unit is provided for dry-offset printing 1,187,085 6/1916 Smith... 101/394 comprising in combination a presswell, at least one inking 1 3 8/1919 Ormond 101/252 brayer means and at least one impression cylinder having 1,499,997 7/1924 Oungst 101/252 gearlike teeth and handle mounted thereon.

4 I 2 56 s 48 y I I l s 4 54 1 1 I 1 I i 5? 5 7 f. ,f? I 11 1 1 1 1- I E 111 6 1% 11 5i i 1 M 1'1 1 6 5 ,i; 1i ,i; 111 1 I I I .1 I 6 54 I I v I I 1 H l I I I I Patented Oct. 6, 1970 3,532,053

2 INVENTOR.

JAY BENJAMIN LIEBERMAN PRINTING PRESS FOR DRY-OFFSET PRINTING This invention is a novel means of transferring a printing image by so-called dry-offset (from relief printing type. photoengraved plates, raised or incised ABC toy blocks, limoleum cuts, woodcuts, etc.), by stencil offset (from a stencil resting on an inked surface), and by the standard or wet offset (from planographic offset plates), onto the surface to be printed, in combination with various kinds of related parts as needed or useful in meeting the varying requirements of the users, e.g. for simplicity,,cost, precision, speed, sheet width, etc. It also provides a means of doing letterpress printing.

While this novel means, as set forth below, offers useful applications to printing technology at many levels, it is in the first instance of direct value in making possible a range of simplified, inexpensive, compact, lightweight and portable printing presses suitable both for small children and adult amateur printers and graphic artists, as well as for business offices, factories and stores; for adult literacy students in various parts of the world, etc.

In particular, it has direct important educational uses in schools and at home, e.g., in terms of reading, spelling, art, foreign language instruction, basic printing technology and history, etc.

No claim is made that this invention is suitable for fast quantity production of printed matter in a high technology society. It is nevertheless suitable for the usual limited quantities needed in personal use (for Christmas cards, invitations, labels, report covers, etc.); for proofing purposes, where only a few copies of one particular printing form are required; for production of office-duplicating mats, audiovisual transparencies, etc.; for printing onto boxes, walls, and other surfaces not amenable to printing presses normally; and for edu cational purposes where, again, only a few copies are required. In underdeveloped areas, where no printing equipment is available and surplus labor is eager for work, this press can economically serve as the beginning press for a commercial printing business, for cooperatives, etc.

No claim is made, either, for the originality of some of the separate parts. However, the device which results from even the simplest combination of parts is unique, as witness the fact that the resultant invention is not in prior use. In particular, it may be noted that (a) toy manufacturers have been ingenious in developing different forms of printing sets through the years; and yet here is a true printing press which is certainly as simple as the toys and capable of manufacture in the toy price range, but never produced by them; (b) manufacturers of such printing materials as linoleum blocks have spurred the practice of block printing" for education, hobbies, etc., even to the point of developing various presses, but have never applied the principles of this invention, even though, as will be shown, this invention makes the printing of such blocks much simpler and more effective,-and the press itself less expensive. In view of the need and desirability of such a printing press, surely it would have been in use if any of the combinations set forth below had been developed earlier.

OBJEC T OF THE INVENTION The invention has for one object the providing of a printing press which can be used by children and adults alike, being simple, inexpensive, lightweight, compact and convenient enough, and producing true printing of acceptable quality, to be feasible for hobbies, personal communication, creative leisure, therapy, business or professional office use, factory use, etc., in the faithful reproduction of graphic arts materials such as linoleum cuts, woodcuts, string cuts, found objects (such as coins'or other materials with a textured or raised surface), as well as true printing type, by means of the offset principle.

A further object is to provide a press which can accomplish the above objective but which can also be used as a letterpress for comparable purposes when this seems more desirable.

A still further objective is to provide a press which can accomplish the above objectives, and which can provide still more flexibility by allowing either single reverse image or double'reverse image printing in the dry or wet offset printing, to take advantage of available printing materials and the needs of the users, 2.3., small children needing right-reading relief letters and older students needing to learn how to handle true (reversed-image) metal printing type.

Another objective is to allow the use of letterpress type in offset printing and produce a right-reading result, which is not usually the case.

Another objective is to provide a hand printing press that a preschool child can operate as part of his introduction to letters and reading, such as through the printing of ABC blocks.

Another object is to provide a printing press which is fully capable of quality printing and yet which is small and lightweight enough to be stored away when not in use, as in a drawer in a chest in ones home.

Another object is to provide a printing press which is portable enough to be carried to meetings by Boy Scouts and other groups, and which can be used in hotel rooms, temporary offices or even automobiles, airplanes and boats, by traveling salesmen, other travelers and persons on vacation or engaged in recreation.

Another object is to provide a printing press which is so simple and inexpensive that it can be used on an individual and even expendable basis in the formal educational process, not only to teach printing itself but to promote reading motivation and reading readiness, to teach literacy, spelling, remedial reading, commercial art, graphic arts, the processes and materials of technology and other subjects in which printing has or may be found a useful tool and reinforcement.

Another object is to provide a simple and inexpensive press, capable of being made locally, to serve as the basis for a rudimentary commercial printing operation in an underdeveloped area where standard equipment is not feasible.

Another object of the invention is to provide a quick, simple and inexpensive press for making posters and store signs by offset from right-reading materials, instead of the usual printing type which inexperienced sign makers often find confusing.

Another object is to provide a process for printing on oversize material such as large posters that could not go into an ordinary press.

Another object is to provide a simple and quick device whereby users of large graphic arts equipment can have a supplementary method of producing simple proofs without involving their expensive equipment.

Another object of the invention is to provide a quick, simple and inexpensive proof press for organizations not maintaining normal print shops, e.g. as book publishers might want to pull proofs of printing plates in their possession.

A further object is to provide a quick, simple and inexpensive means of transferring relief printing materials, such as type, logotypes and electrotypes onto paper master plates for duplication (offset) machines without need of photographic or electrostatic platemakers.

Another object of the invention is to provide a means of stencil offset printing, whereby stencils may be used as the printing form to be reproduced from, instead of relief or planographic materials.

Another object of the invention is to provide a means whereby the stenciled forms just mentioned can be transferred to boxes, walls and other nonprintable surfaces both flat and curved, and whereby designs and messages from relief and planographic forms may likewise be so transferred to unusual surfaces.

Another object is to provide a means whereby standing forms" may be easily put into the press and quickly printed with no trouble or confusion, and may be storied inexpensively in printing readiness without the need to transfer them to chases, galleys, etc.

Another object is to provide press equipment that can within one basic unit accommodate not only different kinds of printing surfaces but also printing materials of different heights, B4,, type. flat offset plates, bigger ABC blocks, "found materials" ofdifferent thicknesses.

A still further object is to provide a set of parts whereby the ownersa school, an individual, a business firm, etc.can by the acquiring of one set of basic equipment have printing facilities to serve various needs, printing with various surfaces and with surfaces of varying heights, by individuals at different levels of skill and experience.

Another object is to provide a means whereby printing may be accomplished from various starting materials on nonpaper surfaces such as plastic, textiles, pencils, etc.

Another object is to provide a means whereby dry-offset and stencil offset printing can be accomplished by the use of special inks which cannot be used with the standard offset printing process, g, water-washable inks, aniline dye inks, some magnetic inks, etc.

NATURE OF THE INVENTION The above objects are accomplished by providing primarily a set of very simple component parts in varying combinations to embody the necessary elements of hand printing by dry-off set, wet offset, stencil offset and letterpress, yet avoid the usual heavy, bulky, expensive and nearly always quite complex parts hitherto considered necessary to achieve printing. It is considered significant that no prior printing press is known to have accomplished either dry, wet or stencil offset at this level, and that the only letterpress known to be effective at this level is the one granted US Pat. No. 3.255.696. June 14. 1966, invented by the present inventor. It is considered significant, too, that no prior press of any kind is shown to be capable of doing dry-offset, wet offset. stencil offset. and letterpress printing all from the same basic printing press unit.

The central feature of the invention, in its primary function as an offset press, is that the paper is printed by an offset cylinder rolling onto and over the paper sheet or other printing surface which is lying in a position separate from the type or printing form and which does not move during the process of actual image-transfer-as distinct from the various other ways which are now employed in printing, such as placing the sheet directly over the printing form. or passing the sheet beneath a turning but stationary cylinder or between two such cylinders, or attaching the sheet to a cylinder by clamps or grippers and moving the sheet and cylinder together over a type form or against another cylinder, etc. Normally, in most applications of the present invention, the final printing surface is a piece of paper lying flat and precision-placed on a press apron of some kind. but the printing can be done instead on quite separate and removed surfaces such as walls, boxes. etc., flat or curved.

Another feature of the invention, therefore, is the ability to print in ways and on materials not normally amenable to printing presses, and in sizes and shapes impossible to "feed" into the usual printing press.

Another feature of the invention is its utilization of either existing standard printing parts or of unique and perhaps even makeshift parts, as may be available and more economic or otherwise advantageous (e.g., as in a formal educational situation).

Another feature of the invention is that, despite the adaptablility of parts as just noted above, its principles are true to historic and modern printing technology, so that it can be used as an exciting educational or training device, providing tangible, quick and easy-to-grasp basic principles as the foundation for high technology printing careers and careers in fields which use printing and communication in general.

Another feature of the invention is the convenient arrangements which it provides for handling paper stock under handprinting circumstances, where previous alternatives at the more or less simple level (except the one in U.S. Pat. No. 3,255,696, referred to above) have either been awkward or susceptible to slurring, smudging, etc. or requiring relatively large, heavy and complex additions to the basic press.

Another feature of the invention is that it can easily handle printing surfaces of different heights, by changing the depth of the press well or by providing platforms. As will be shown, it is even possible to combine materials of different heights by subplatforms.

Another feature of the press is that in most versions it can accommodate a sheet of any size.

Another feature of the press is that it can be made in various sizes from very small (even a 3 x 5-inch press well or even smaller, if desired) to one easily accommodating normal stationary (8 XII inches) or even duplication mats and larger posters, retaining the same principles and ease of operation.

Other features and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the specifications and claims when considered in connection with the accompanying drawings.

THE DRAWINGS In the accompanying drawings, like numerals are employed to designate the parts throughout. Note that various parts of the drawings are not necessarily to the same scale.

In the accompanying drawings, where illustrative embodiments of the invention are disclosed,

FIG. 1 is a top plan of the basic press well, with a printing form locked in, in accordance with the teachings of the instant invention;

FIG. 2 is an end view in side elevation of the basic press well of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a side view in side elevation of the basic press well of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a view in side elevation of the impression cylinder;

FIG. 5 is a view in side elevation of the end of the impression cylinder;

FIG. 6 is a top plan view of the combined press well and press apron, showing a variety of means for positioning and holding the paper stock;

FIG. 7 is a view in side elevation of the combined press well and press apron of FIG. 6, showing the paper clamp and grippers in open position; and showing also the alternative web paper arrangement;

FIG. 8 is a top plan view ofa standard inking brayer;

FIG. 9 is a side elevation view ofa stencil-printing press well platform;

FIG. 10 is a side elevation view of the letter press press well platform;

FIG. 11 is a top plan view of the empty-container impression cylinder;

FIG. 12 is a side elevation view of the double reversing cylinder;

FIG. 13 is a top plan view of the double (elevating) cylinder track arrangement;

FIG. 14 is a side elevation view of FIG. 13, shown as a separate proof press;

FIG. 15 is a side elevation view of the special cylinder needed with FIG. 13;

FIG. 16 is a side elevation view showing an insertable top for a press well; and

FIG. 17 is a side elevation view showing a cylinder converting to a brayer.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 7 While the methods and apparatus of this invention apply broadly in any graphics process in which one element is held in position firmly and inked in some manner, the ink being then transferred by cylinder onto another surface, their application to various specific purposes will be explained for illustrative purposes, but this is not to be considered limiting. The invention is specifically designed to be versatile and adaptable in coupling with many different processes.

With reference to the drawings, more detailed specifica tions and operating descriptions are given below, in accordance with the invention.

FIGS. 1, 2, and 3 show the basic press well, which in combination with the impression cylinder (FIG. 4) comprise the invention in its minimal form with the cylinder then moving across a desired separate printing surface, to do the printing, being an understood element of the invention in some of its applications.

Thus, the end walls 1 and the side or bearing walls 2, together with a bottom or floor 5 which may optionally be omitted for certain purposes, comprise the elemental press well. This can be of any depth desired, to accommodate a printing form of any kind 9 which is right-reading and with a relief surface, as the ABC blocks shown 10. The width can be as desired, to as much as 10 or inches, the limitation being the increasing pressure required with the increased size. The length of the well can be as desired, although optimally it should be approximately the circumference of the cylinder (FIG. 4), which can in turn be as great as desired. Here the limiting factor is the purpose intended and the cost or availablility of materials, since otherwise the diameter of the cylinder even to eight inches or more is no detriment but rather in some ways an advantage, adding to the weight and thus the pressure, and to the rigidity of the cylinder itself.

The printing form 9 is locked in the well itself 7 by means of wedges or quoins 12, as in normal letterpress printing, with furniture ll used to fill in. In addition, optionally, partitions 8 may be fitted into optional notches 4 in the sides of the walls, to make in effect a "spider chase, in printing terminology. Alternatively or optionally also, a setscrew arrangement 13 may be used in conjuction with the furniture 11 to lock in the form, especially where large unit forms such as big ABC blocks and simplicity of operation are involved, e.g., for small children.

In the very simplest form of press well (FIG. 1) the bearing walls are simply smooth and uniformly high throughout. The cylinder (FIG. 4) sticks out far enough beyond the walls on either side that there is no danger that a small child (who would be the principal user of the equipment at this level) would pull the cylinder askew and get it off the press well as it traveled across. Optionally, a slightly more sophisticated version would provide tracks 3 in the side walls with matching teeth 15, the width of the cylinder 16 being limited to the distance within optional fenders 14 on the sides of the press well, the tracks and teeth preventing possible slippage of the cylinder.

With this equipment, the user would ink the form 9 with the inking brayer (FIG. 11) in the way usual to hand printing. Then he would put the untoothed (or the toothed and contained) cylinder (FIG. 4) across the press well, and bearing down somewhat (little pressure being required, depending upon the form and the ink used), moving the cylinder with a rolling motion across the printing form 9. The cylinder is then lifted off the press well, and laid upon the intended printing surface, there to be rolled again, for approximately one full turn, with some firmness of pressure (depending upon the ink and the surface to be printed, as well as the width of the cylinder, FIG. 4). This will transfer the ink to the printing surface and complete the process. In the first pass of the cylinder, FIG. 4, over the printing form 9, the image is reversed onto the cylinder; in its second transfer, the ink is reversed again, onto the final printed surface. Thus, if the printing form 9 is rightreading (as with ABC blocks 10), the final printing result also will be right-reading.

It is obvious that in this simple process, there is no position-- ing of the printing image on the final printed surface. Also, there is no positive means of insuring that a second cycle of printing would find the ink from the printing form 9 touching the cylinder, FIG. 4, at exactly the same place: if it did not,

there would be two different printing images on the cylinder, since the first printing would not pull away all the ink from the cylinder, and this would of course result in a double image which would generally be undesirable (except for certain artistic effects).

This is no defect at the simplest level, since positioning is not needed enough to offset the obviously utter simplicity of the procedure (and thus ideal for the very small child). Often, too, one printing is enough; but if more than one is desired, it is a simple matter to wipe the impression cylinder, FIG. 4,

clean with a damp cloth (if water-washable, nontoxic ink is being used) before the second impression is made.

These two problems, which do become important at more sophisticated levels, are easily overcome by the addition of positioning posts 6 on the tracks of the press well, these being matched with notches 17 in the teeth 15 of the cylinder, FIG. 4, so that the cylinder, when fitted over the posts 6, will travel in precisely the same manner and position, so that each subsequent reinking from the printing form 9 will touch in precisely the same place. The positioning of the paper stock can be achieved by simple observance of where the inked image on the cylinder is in relation to the notches l7 and the distance from the ends of the cylinder. However, for most purposes, the positioning of the final printing on the printing surface -if it is a normal piece of printing stock-is accomplished by the addition of a press apron 27 to the press well 7, either attached to the basic unit or made in combination with it in one piece, as shown in FIGS. 6 and 7.

The press apron continues the tracks 3 from the press well 7 along its sides, with the position posts 6 added also to accommodate the cylinder (FIG. 4) as it continues its movement along the track. The height of the apron, which is primarily a fiat top, is approximately the same as the type-height of the press well, so that ordinary paper will be accommodated with no trouble. However, for critical uses, a version of the press apron 27 is built to a somewhat lower height, and underlay sheets of different thickness are put onto the apron in much the same way packing is put under the tympan sheet on a platen letterpress, with bales 30 provided to hold the top sheet equivalent to the tympan sheet.

The procedure, then, is for a sheet of the paper stock to be laid on the press apron 27, so that when the impression cylinder (FIG. 4) continues its course along the extended track of the apron it will make a second revolution and deposit or transfer its ink image onto the printing sheet, all in one straight motion.

In its simplest form, again, the printing sheet is simply laid on the press apron 27. However, depending on the stiffness of the stock and the tackiness of the ink, the stock may wrap itself around the cylinder unless it is anchored down. For the small child, therefore, one version provides a web of paper 31, something like a paper tape for an adding machine, which is housed underneath the apron 27 and threaded through the press well wall near the top, so that it then proceeds over the press apron, being held at the far end by a simple bracket 32. When the exposed portion of the paper tape on the apron 27 is printed, it is a simple enough matter to pull a fresh section of the tape into position on the apron, tearing off the printed portion against the bracket 32. The web feed has uses, of course, for continous-roll printing, e.g., labels.

Again, more sophisticated use requires a positive positioning of the paper stock and a simple means of securing various kinds of stock on the press apron 27. While this can be accomplished by flat gauge pins similar to those used in platen press positioning of stock, one practical means is a clamp 28 and gripper 29 arrangement, which are held in a diagonally upright position by springs 33, so that paper stock can be fed under the clamp; when the cylinder passes over the apron, it presses down the clamp and grippers and holds them down until the printing is accomplished. The side positioning is accomplished by an independent stop 34 extending out from under the clamp, and adjustable on the same axle asthe clamp. Other means (FIG. 6) include perforating holes 35 and stops 36 with prongs to anchor in the holes, and posts or sprockets 53.

Inasmuch as the paper stock is thus fed always to the same position in the press, at the clamp 28, make-up of the printing form 9 is simplified by recognizing the positioning in the press well 7 which represents the feeding edge of the stock, and then moving the form 9 away from that line (and toward the press apron 27) exactly the distance the printing image is intended to be from the edge of the sheet. The same principle is followed in side positioning of form 9. Matching grids in picas or inches on the bottom of the press well 7 and the press apron 27 make this positioning even simpler and more precise.

The cylinder (FIG. 4) is basically like a rolling pin with the side handles 22, which may be firmly attached, or the protruding axle, or free-turning handles such as ball-bearing; it may also have a single or double handle attached to a bracket, which is itself attached to the axle at either end, for bearing down from above rather than at the sides. The cylinder is made of wood (as in a kitchen rolling pin) or metal, or a hollow pipe, or a sealed container into which water, buckshot or other material may be poured to add weight as desired (FIG. II). For simplest use, the cylinder itself is covered with a "blanket" 21 or a layer of rubber, printing roller composition or other material including true offset printing blanket material, capable of taking off ink from the printing form 9. This blanket may be permanently affixed to the cylinder by glueing, etc., or may be slipped over the cylinder as a tubing. In more sophisticated versions, this blanket 21 is wrapped around the cylinder and held in place by a grooved arrangement 18 of which the notched groove 17 is the cross section and, for fitting over the posts 6 to position the cylinder positively. A plate 19 is fitted over ends of the blanket material and fastened down with screws 20, as one preferred method, although the blanket may be affixed by bales, as on typical printing press platens, or hooked into grooves or catches, the elasticity of the blanket allowing the hooking to be accom' plished and yet assure a firm hook-in as a result, or by means of a blanket with reinforcements provided at the end of the blanket, so that no plate 19 is needed, or in the other ways by which such fastening is accomplished.

If a reverse image printing form 9 is used, as for instance true metal printing type. and it is desired to accomplish dryoffset printing with a right-reading final result, the reversing cylinder (FIG. 12) may be used. In essence. this consists of two cylinders, a transfer cylinder 23 and an impression cylinder 24. each substantially like the impression cylinder (FIG. 4) described above. They are held in touching position and synchronized by a meshing of their gear teeth, with a double handle, the transfer cylinder handle 25 being held upright, or slanted slightly toward the user as he moves the double cylinder along over the printing form 9; this has the effect of keeping the impression cylinder 24 elevated so as not to get inked. When the inking of the cylinder 23 is completed with the passing over the form 9, the user lifts the double cylinder off the track and turns it over, positioning the impression cylinder 24 on the posts 6 at the beginning of the press apron tracks, and using the impression cylinder handle 26 to bear down with one hand, while pulling the cylinders along with the transfer handle 25 (the handle 25 being now approximately horizontal and handle 26 being vertical). The touching and movement of the two cylinders has made a double reverse onto the impression cylinder 24, back to wrong-reading images, so that the final printing reverts again to right-reading. A somewhat more intense ink is needed for this double cylinder, but with proper materials, quite acceptable rightreading offset printing from reverse reading letterpress printing type is provided by this invention.

True offset printing is accomplished by affixing a prepared offset plate in the press well, using a platform and any one ofa number of means for attaching the plate to the platform so it will lie flat; the simplest means is to fold the plate down the sides of the inserted platform, and the locking in of the platform itself with wedges or similar devices will lock the plate tight as well. A platform with bales is also feasible. The plate is then treated with a wetting agent, by means of a special wetting roller, not unlike an inking brayer. After that, the plate is inked with appropriate offset ink, in the same way the form 9 is otherwise inked. The principle of offset printing is such, and the plate is so treated, that the wetting agent will have soaked into or adhered to portions of the plate which are not to print, so that when (oily) ink is applied, it will stick only to the parts which are to print. The impression cylinder (FIG. 4) is then rolled across in the usual way, and the ink is transferred. Stencil offset printing is accomplished by means of a platform 37 which is type high" for all practical purposes, and which has a hinging attachment 38 at the press well starting end for affixing a frisket 39 consisting of the stencil plus blank (i.e. solid) paper stock where no stenciling is required. To print, the frisket is lifted, so that the platform top 40 itself can be thoroughly inked, and the stencil is then lowered onto the platform. Again, the cylinder (FIG. 4) is rolled over the platform, and the ink is transferred through the open parts of the stencil onto the cylinder, which is then used as in other applications to complete the printing whether across a press apron 27 or onto a box, a wall, a large poster, etc.

True letterpress printing is accomplished by inserting a platform 37 or underlay sheets as may be necessary to make the depth of the press well 7 precisely to printing type height (.9l8 inch). As provided in US. Pat. No. 3,255,696, previously mentioned, a hinge 41 is locked in with the true metal type form 9 or other printing material, and a tympan pack 42 attached, to position and lay down the paper stock onto the inked printing form, and to allow for makeready, necessary additional packing, etc. Printing is accomplished by rolling a cylinder across the tympan pack when it is down, once the inking and paper feeding have been accomplished. The cylinder can be the impression cylinder (FIG. 4) of the basic press of this invention, with a special hard jacket used instead ofthe rubber blanket.

A different special jacket and fittings can be made for the same impression cylinder (FIG. 4) so that a duplicating (offset) matrix can be attached, to roll over the type form with the cylinder. This will imprint a right-reading image on the matrix, and this can then be printed in the standard office duplicators (e.g., Multilith, Davidson).

As is apparent from these embodiments of various combinations in the invention. the invention in fact makes possible in practical terms, for the first time so far as is known, the printing press with interchangeable parts for various processes.

Thus, there can be provided a set of interchangeable platforms that slip into the press well, one for letterpress printing (complete with tympan pack hinge assembly), one for stencil offset printing (complete with frisket arrangement for the stencil), one or more for offset printing (to accommodate different kinds of plates), plus the basic one for dry-offset printing (and even a set of several such platforms to accommodate printing objects of different heights from ABC blocks to coins). There can be quarter platforms, as well, or other arrangements, in varying heights; so that it would be possible to accommodate large ABC blocks in one part of the press well, while a coin is lying at its proper height to print on another quarter platform, and true printing type is in still another quarter platform all of them to be printed at the same time. In the letterpress units, there could be different platforms for American and European type heights.

Blank or duplicate platforms could be sold in quantity to provide storage for standing forms that could thus be easily put into the press.

Special platforms can be provided also for educational purposes. Thus a magnetized metal-top platform can hold iron objects, or a steel-topped platform could hold magnetized Montessori objects, etc. In the same way, plates with pressuresensitive adhesive coverings could be used for holding found objects, unmounted linoleum cuts, plastic tape punched out letters (right or reverse reading), etc.

There can also be an assortment of different thickness underlay sheets" of metal or plastic, for increasing or decreasing the platform heights slightly. Such sheets can double for other duties in at least two ways: they can be marked on one side to match the markings on the press apron, so that when a form 9 is laid on the sheet, it is possible to tell at a glance just where it will hit on a sheet of paper lying in position on the press apron; on the other side, these sheets can be treated in different textures, so that they can be laid texture side up and inked, to serve as tint blocks, solid or with various patterns as may be provided, printing being accomplished as with any other form 9.

The interchangeable platforms can be locked in with the setscrew 13, being made snug fitting otherwise; they can be grasped for lifting out with the help of the finger grooves which are part of the notches for partitions 4.

In the same way, there can be basic impression cylinders (FIG. 4) with various jackets for different purposes, such as dry offset, letterpress, duplicating mat printing, stencil printing and other special needs which require different inks and different blanket characteristics. The cylinders can even be adapted by special coverings to serve as ink rollers where total and top quality ink coverage is desired. Extra packing sheets can be provided for insertion between the basic or naked cylinder and whatever special jacket is used for a particualr covering, to compensate for any difference in thickness, or to increase the pressure exerted by the impression cylinder as it moves.

In the use of the impression cylinder (FIG. 4) for offset purposes, it is, of course, important that the inked image touch the cylinder at the precise same place each time; it has also been made clear that there is always an ink residue on the cylinder after the printing. If the cylinder is therefore rolled backwards over the press to the starting position, after the completion of the forward roll to achieve the printing, various undesirable results will occur, the primary one being that the residue of ink on the cylinder will print onto (or offset) the press apron. For this reason, in the combinations of the press described above, the cylinder is always lifted at the end of the forward motion, and then repostioned at the starting position without touching any intervening part of the press assembly.

However, for many purposes it may be useful to have a heavier cylinder than can be achieved by the natural weight of the material used; thus in FIG. II, a cylinder is shown as an empty container with a closable opening 45, so that the cylinder may be filled with water, buckshot, sand or suitable material before use.

This extra weight, plus a natural inclination to convenience in use of the press, even with an unweighted cylinder, suggests a mechanism whereby the cylinder need not be lifted bodily after the forward movement, but can be moved back in a slightly elevated position, so as to avoid touching the press apron, printing form, etc. Such an arrangement is shown in FIGS. 13 and 14, in which the normal printing level track 46 has an up ramp 48 to deliver the special cylinder (FIG. to an elevated track 47 for the return movement, down ramp 49 back to the printing level. Position posts 6 are optional, if needed for the precise positioning of the cylinder. A fender 50 between the two track levels 46, 47 is optional, to prevent the cylinder from slipping off the higher track 47 onto 46. So the cylinder (FIG. 15) can clear the intervening high track 47, a space 51 is provided between the gear teeth 15 and the cylinder itself 16. Bumpers 54, to keep the weighted cylinder from rolling off, are optional.

This two-level track arrangement (FIGS. 13, 14) together with the adapted cylinder (FIG. 15) can be used on any ofthe press combinations described above. It may be also employed in a different embodiment which fulfills even more flexibly the interchangeable part conception which is basic to this invention, for use with different processes and materials.

Thus, the double tracks 46 and 47, together with ramps 48 and 49, the optional fender 50, and the bumpers 54, can be made into sidewalls 55, as shown in FIG. 14, together with an outside fender 56. End walls 57 are optional, or removable, since for some uses the press may need open ends for protruding printing galleys with type for proofing. A bottom 58 will help hold the entire structure rigid and provide a flat plane and rigid base for components which may be used. Thus, with the addition of the cylinder (FIG. 15) which may embody the weighting principle of FIG. 11 or which may be made solid of a heavy material such as steel, and with the inner height of the walls 55 being enough to accommodate any of the contemplated interchangeable components, there is now an instrument which can serve as a simple printing proof press such as is used in any print shop, with the addition only of a removable platform 59 which will make a false bottom to convert the press to ordinary type-high. The same instrument can also use any other combination of parts described above, including the press Well of FIG. I and a combination press well apron of FIG. 6. In the same way. the press aprons described in the foregoing may be made each a separate unit for the separate purpose (e.g., one with bales and a draw-sheet, for special makeready; one with the clamp and grippers; one with the per forated apron for positioning of gauge guides; one for the web feeding; even one for special feeding of textiles; one for producing transparencies for overhead projectors; one for printing offset masters, etc.). And the various interchangeable platforms for the press wells, as described above, may similarly be separate press wells. These could all be fastened together as needed, by various means, or anchored to the bottom by protruding pins in holes in the bottom 58. I

The impression cylinder (FIG. 4) with the groove 18 can be made into a full-coverage inking roller by (FIG. 17) a plug 52 for the groove and a seamless elastic (normally rubber) covering 66 this is especially suitable for large form 9 or highest quality inking. For smaller forms and ordinary inking requirements, more usual brayers, such as shown in FIG. 8. are adequate; there, the brayer consists of an inking roller 43 with rubber or composition or other such material covering on an axle of some sort, with a handle 44 attached.

Different or multiple color printing can be accomplished by virtually all the means described above, simply by using a different brayer for each color of ink desired, each part of the form being inked separately but with the printing being accomplished at the same time. Register color work is equally feasible, of course, since the paper stock can be positioned exactly and held in place.

As is shown by FIG. 16, grooves 61 can be provided in the sides 2 of the press well, and comparable grooves can be placed at the bottom walls of the press apron on models having an apron, so that flat cover sheets 62 of wood, plastic or metal, can be slid in to cover the press well, and the bottom of the press apron, completely, thus making storage compartments by which all of the usual components of the press and all needed supplies can be carried, so that the equipment becomes completely portable and self-contained. A cloth, leather or plastic strap 63 threaded through brackets 64 at strategic points on the outside of the press unit and entirely surrounding the resultant box, will keep the cover sheets from slipping out, and a handle 65 can be added for ease in carrying. Other usual fastening and carrying means are equally feasible.

I claim:

I. A press unit providing all the necessary parts and means for accomplishing dry offset printing, comprising:

A press well in the form of a boxlike device, printing form means, locking means for holding said form means securely within said press well, at least one inking brayer means, an impression cylinder having a circumference approximately equal to the inner length of said press well and a width at least equal to the outside width of said press well, said impression cylinder having its main body covered with a rubberlike surface suitable for the ink being used, said impression cylinder having a handle for manual movement, said impression cylinder having gearlike teeth mounted on its ends to travel in matching tracks located on top of the side walls of said press well, said side walls having fenders on the outer side of said tracks to keep said cylinder on said tracks, said press well and said cylinder having registration means composed of vertical position posts at the beginning and ending of the tracks, and matching notches in said cylinder teeth to fit over said posts, said press unit having a press apron included as an integral extension of the end of the press well, said tracks and fenders extending along said press apron, so that the cylinder may continue in one straight motion forward to cover and print upon the paper or other surface to be printed and lying on the press apron.

2. The press-unit of claim 1 wherein said position posts are located at the beginning of the tracks and again where the cylinder makes its first revolution at the other end of the press well, and then again where the cylinder completes its second revolution on the press apron,

3. The press-unit of claim 1 wherein there is provided flat top and bottom covers, which can be slipped into notches along the side walls of the press well at the top and in notches along the side walls of the press apron at the bottom to make the press unit into self-contained storage boxes, for storing auxiliary equipment and supplies, thus making the press units portable self-contained units, and easy to store, parts of said covers being covered with metal or plastic suitable to act as inking plates.

4. A press unit comprising:

A combination press well and press apron having a twolevel track on top of the sides of the press unit, an impression cylinder having gear-like teeth mounted on each side of the body of the cylinder, one of said gear teeth being offset from the cylinder body to form a gap in order to straddle an upper level track to be further described, said impression cylinder being a hollow container capable of being filled with liquid or solid weight, the lower level of said two-level track being composed of an outer track on one side of the press unit and an inner track on the opposing side of the press unit, the upper level of said two level track being composed of an inner track being on the same side of the press unit as the said outer track of the lower level, means for transferring said impression roller from said lower track to said upper level track and back down to the lower level again, said transfer means consisting of having the outer track of the lower level incline upwardly and merging with the end of the upper level inner track, the inner track of the lower level likewise inclined upwardly at the press apron end of the track and merging with the outer track of the upper level track, the press well end of the upper level tracks being inclined downwardly and merging with the press well ends of the said lower level track, said transfer means further comprising pairs of curved fenders, located at the said merging points of the lower and upper level tracks, one of said pair of fenders being to the right of said lower level track and curving up and to the left at the press apron end as the lower track curves and merges with the adjacent upper level track, the other of said pairs of fenders being located at the press well end merging points and curving downward and to the right, registration means in the form of position posts at the beginning and ending of the tracks, and matching notches in said cylinder teeth to fit over said posts. 

